Kyle Owen Brennan, the son of former CIA Director John Brennan, was arrested Friday at his workplace in Herndon, Virginia, after investigators allegedly found child sexual abuse material on his phone.
According to a federal criminal complaint, FBI agents found about 88 images that appeared to show underage girls, including prepubescent children, engaged in sexually explicit acts. One image allegedly showed a nude girl with her wrists and ankles tied and a gag in her mouth.
The investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a tip to authorities. Warrenton police then identified Brennan as the alleged owner of an account used to upload suspected child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The complaint says the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office seized Brennan’s phone while executing a search warrant at his home in July 2024. The case was referred to the FBI in early October 2026, and agents later examined the phone’s contents.
Brennan appeared in court Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia. He faces a felony charge of transporting child pornography. If convicted, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and could receive up to 20 years.
John Brennan, who led the CIA during the Obama administration, has been a prominent critic of President Donald Trump. He has also faced accusations from Trump and his supporters that he politicized the intelligence agency and wrongly accused Trump of colluding with Russia during the 2016 election.
John Brennan was among 51 former intelligence officials who signed a 2020 letter saying the Hunter Biden laptop story had the “classic earmarks” of a Russian information operation.
